


Feeling Free

by little0bird



Series: When Jack's Heart Stopped [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Bitty on figure skates, Hockey, figure skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 11:36:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18690700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little0bird/pseuds/little0bird
Summary: Song lyrics from "Winter" by Tori Amos.





	Feeling Free

Jack grabbed his skates and strode through the tunnel.  He'd finished his physics homework early -- thank God for Rans -- and decided to reward himself with some alone time on the ice.  Just himself, his stick, a bucket of pucks, and an empty net.

 

The music made him stop and his eyes widened at the sight of Bitty gliding across the ice in figure skates.  The music was vastly different from what Bitty habitually listened to, but this song…

 

_When you gonna make up your mind?_

_When you gonna love you as much as I do?_

 

Bitty's feet turned out, his right foot several inches in front of the left, and he slowly leaned back, hands folded together and pressed to the small of his back.  He glided for a few beats, then straightened, stroking across the ice, and launched himself into the air, landing gracefully one one foot, the other held out behind him.  Bitty then lowered his torso until his back leg was perfectly straight in the air, his nose nearly touching his other knee. The fingers of one hand trailed over the ice.

 

_When you gonna make up your mind?_

_'Cause things are gonna change so fast_

 

Bitty's leg lowered and he grabbed the blade of his skate, and twirled -- Jack had no other word for it -- a few times, coming to a stop in front of the Samwell bench.  He picked up a bottle of water and gulped half of it down, chest heaving.

 

'That was…'  Jack spoke before he could stop himself.  

 

Bitty gasped and spun toward the tunnel.  'Oh! Lord, what time is it?'

 

'A little after four,' Jack replied.  

 

'Silly me.  I must've lost all track of time.'  Bitty grabbed the skate guards sitting next to his water and fitted them over the blades.  'Public skate ended at three, and I promised the facilities manager I'd clean the ice for a little bit of time to myself.'

 

'You miss it?'  Jack asked, sitting on the bench to put on his skates.  

 

'Figure skating?'

 

'Yeah.'

 

Bitty ran a hand through his sweaty hair.  'Sometimes,' he admitted. 'Never had two hundred pounds of d-man charging down the ice at me during competitions,' he added ruefully.

 

'Sounds like a plus,' Jack retorted, with a small grin.

 

'Are you chirping me, Mr. Zimmermann?'  A dimple appeared at the corner of Bitty's mouth.

 

'Maybe.  You miss it?'

 

Bitty perched on the bench next to Jack and unlaced his skates.  'I do and I don't. Nobody cared if I was gay when I was in figure skates.  If I'd come out then, people would've asked what took you so darn long?' He eased his feet from the boots.  'I don't miss the stage mamas. You know the ones. I'll bet there're hockey dads like that. The stage mamas are the worst.  They all think their little girl is gonna be the next Michelle Kwan, but they can barely do a scratch spin. And the girls, well, they wilt under the pressure and they can do everything perfectly in practice when their mama's aren't there, but the second their mama comes in the rink, they're poppin' their jumps, makin' silly mistakes.  I don't miss that.' He stared out at the ice. 'I always felt free on the ice. It was just me and the music.' He reached for his phone and tapped the screen to turn off the music. 'When Coach got the job offer in Madison, it was too far to keep driving back and forth, and Mama and I could've stayed behind and gone to Madison on weekends, but she didn't wanna leave Coach, and I didn't wanna stay behind without her.'  He shrugged. 'Hockey felt the same way.' He nudged Jack with an elbow. 'Until some crazy, hulking Canadian decided it would be a good idea to slam into me at the crack of dawn on Sunday mornings.'

 

'You'll thank me later,' Jack said loftily.

**Author's Note:**

> Song lyrics from "Winter" by Tori Amos.


End file.
